Memorandum of Understanding Signed Between AOU Policlinico “G. Rodolico – San Marco” and Smile House Fondazione ETS

The General Director of the Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Policlinico “G. Rodolico – San Marco” in Catania, Dr Gaetano Sirna, and the Vice President of Smile House Fondazione ETS, Dr Domenico Scopelliti, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding that enables the launch, within the AOU San Marco, UOC of Maxillofacial Surgery, of the “P.D.T.A.M. Smile House”, a Multidisciplinary Diagnostic, Therapeutic and Care Pathway for the multispecialist care of patients with cleft lip and palate.

The agreement sets out the terms of the collaboration between the Hospital and the ETS Foundation, aimed at the medical and social care of minors and young adults with craniomaxillofacial malformations, with the goal of ensuring specialist and multidisciplinary medical treatment from the onset of the condition until the end of the patients’ psychophysical development.
Dr Gaetano Sirna commented: “We are pleased that, with the agreement we are signing today, we can further strengthen our care for those affected by a malformation that, besides being a
physical problem, has psychological implications that severely compromise these patients’ quality of life. The protocol with the Smile House Foundation moves towards all-round care, within our facility, together with the treatment of our qualified specialists, who are able to ensure the best possible outcome, supporting patients throughout the entire course of therapy, until recovery.”

“Today,” stated Vice President Domenico Scopelliti, “we have signed a very important Protocol, which provides for the opening in Catania too of a new operational centre of the Foundation, thus contributing to the expansion of the Smile House network, after Rome, Vicenza, Ancona, Cagliari and Taranto. This agreement is an important signal against the healthcare migration into which patients with facial malformations and their families have so far been forced in order to undergo the necessary care, which, from today, they will be able to receive in their own city, following a personalised care pathway that is active all year round and guaranteed by a team of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals.”